The Time for Action
by alirodina
Summary: Sirius Black knows that Remus Lupin is hiding something from him. Maybe something from the Order of the Phoenix as well. Post-Hogwarts etc etc. Slash, but you know that already, anyway.
1. Chapter 1

The Time for Action

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling. Some non-canon characters (like Amelia Waterhouse) appeared in another fanfic of mine called "Random Years". You don't have to read that to understand this one, but it's always nice to add to your reading list, right? :D

Chapter 1

Remus Lupin didn't like being obvious. Probably there had been a time in his life when he was entirely at ease around people, keeping no secrets from anyone. No secret worse than how much he likes the little girl who lives next to them (Drusella Barnes, who moved away when Remus was eight) or how he ate all the prunes his mother was saving up for the pudding and blamed it on goblins. The kind of secret that was fine and safe and wholesome.

There had been a time like that, Remus was sure. But he couldn't remember it very well anymore. Every night of the full moon, every wound that never managed to scar on his body, every blood stain he found the day after on his clothes; well, those worked well enough to make Remus forget he'd ever been a normal kid who only needed to worry about crushes and pranks. And so the hiding began, the silences and the secrets that must be kept for his own life. He never tried to detach himself from the rest of humanity, but he'd always known he'd never become a part of it again. Not in the same way that he'd been. And who knows, after those long years listening to voices trailing delicately off; meeting furtive and sometimes fearful glances; almost a decade of wounds and torn clothing and parents talking tearfully in the dark, well, Remus might have refused to become part of anything at all.

That was until he got onto the Hogwarts Express and one boy stuck out his foot to trip Remus up while he lugged his trunk down the hallway, looking for an empty compartment.

Remus, who can be pretty absent-minded most of the time, looked at the foot and dropped his trunk down on it accordingly.

"OW!" The owner of the foot retrieved it with remarkable alacrity while a couple of heads popped out from behind the door, looking at Remus like he was a python in a zoo.

"Oi!" said the one wearing glasses. At first Remus had thought they were brothers, with their pale twisted-grin faces and black hair, except of course James Potter was pretty short (Not much taller than Remus had been) and had very sharp features and Sirius Black looked good enough to turn the heads of all the new girls and even those from the higher years as well.

"Oi," said Remus, drily. "Whose foot was that?"

"Mine," said the other boy (Of course at that time, Remus had no idea who James Potter and Sirius Black were). "First words to you and you have me crying in pain already. How cruel is the love of my life."

"You were going to trip me up," Remus pointed out, rather unnecessarily.

"To catch your attention," said the boy. "Didn't you hear that was what boys do to the girls they liked? Heard all about it from my Uncle Alphard. Least, that's what he did."

"No wonder he's still a bachelor," the boy with glasses piped in, cheerfully.

"Well, that he is. But through no fault of his. Very popular with the women, my Uncle Alphard."

"I'm not a girl," said Remus, offended. Of course, he was small and he looked through the strands of his hair too much to be particularly manly in appearance or manner, but no one's ever thought he was a girl before. Except maybe a couple of old ladies who lived near their house. And the man at the grocer's.

The boy with the glasses laughed, while the other boy made a huffing sound before flicking his companion a Sickle.

"I told you he was a boy."

"You bet on _me_?"

"There goes half the happiness of my life, the stars forever crossing upon my fate." The other boy frowned while still massaging his toes. "Sit down, why don't you. Standing around like that won't make you taller."

"Stars?" said Remus, feeling a bit like he'd eaten too many Peppermint Toads before riding a Muggle carousel.

"Don't worry, love. I don't care if you're a bloke. Knew you were meant for me the moment you put your trunk on my foot. You and me against the world and all that shite."

"You don't even know my name," said Remus, looking at the boy with the glasses, who'd began to laugh so hard Remus thought he was going to be sick.

"I'm James Potter," said the boy with glasses, between giggles. He went out of the compartment to help Remus with the trunk. "And that nancy there's Sirius Black. He's family's all Slytherins, but I guess he's all right. What house do you think you're going in?"

"What name do you think we should call you?" said Sirius Black, pointedly, but with a small smile.

As he told them who he was, Remus thought that it would be nice to be friends with those boys, even if James was perhaps one of the crudest boys Remus had ever seen or if Sirius happened to be a Black (Toujurs Pur) and kind of a prick. They were real as to themselves, knowing who they were and all their faults, which seemed to amuse them as much as anything else. Their smile, devilish to some and handsome to so many, always had that same quality. The smile of people well familiar with their own skin, and comfortable in it.

Remus always wished he can smile like that.

*

"Hey, what are you smiling to yourself for?"

Remus looked up as Sirius, who had just come back from the buffet table with a couple of overflowing plates and several tankards of Merlin knew what. "I wasn't. Sirius, I can't possibly eat all that."

"I've seen you during the Christmas Holidays, love. No need to be nice and posh, it's just me," said Sirius, sitting down beside Remus although there were still a few empty seats left around the table. "And Peter," he added, as an after-thought.

"Thanks so much for making me feel all warm and welcome," said Peter, who had had several tankards of whatever already. "So, who's next, eh? Although if you'd asked me, I would have told you that I never thought James would be the first to get hitched. And to Lily Evans, no less!"

"Who did you think would go first, then?" said Remus, to distract everyone from Peter's question.

"Well," said Peter, looking at Sirius in a way that told Remus he'd avoided a trap to step over a land mine. An analogy his friends, who never took Muggle studies (James did, actually, to 'understand Lily Evans better') would never quite understand although the concept behind it was familiar enough. "Remus, actually. Seems like the family kind of bloke, isn't he?"

"You'd be surprised," said Sirius, drily, spearing the asparagus with his fork with more force than was necessary. Remus couldn't see how Sirius could eat those vegetables, much less actually like them, pumpkins and potatoes being the extent of Remus' acquaintance with edible plants and he liked things to stay that way. "Can't even leave him alone for a day, actually. Bugger can't even wash his hair on his own."

"I'll wash it for you, Remus!" said Amelia Waterhouse, with a pointed look at Sirius.

Remus looked at his own crowded plate (There was no scary plant life in sight, Sirius being the good man that he was) and wished everyone would stop looking at Sirius when talking about someone else.

"I think that's what wives are for, you know." Lily Potter, nee Evans, was walking towards them with a rather large knife in one hand. If Remus had seen this a couple of years ago, he would have started running for his life. As it were, he knew the knife was really meant for no more dangerous activity than cutting cake and that being with James Potter had made Lily's sense of humor loosen the belt on its britches a bit. So Remus stayed where he was, although feeling Sirius' leg twitch a bit against his, Remus knew that his friend pretty much felt the same about the former Head Girl.

"And vice versa. I don't mind having my hair washed, myself," Lily added, winking at Remus before waving the knife about with absent-minded flourish. "Okay, Mr. Best Man, we need someone to immortalise the cutting of the cake. James is wailing about naked girls inside, actually. Haven't you done that already?"

Sirius snorted at his drink. "With Remus Lupin breathing down our necks? What do you think people do at stag parties, Lily?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Lily, laughing. She had a very nice laugh, Remus realized. Like everything was fine and would always be fine. That sort of laugh. "And I don't suppose you would deem it necessary to tell me, so get your behind out of there and take some pictures!"

"Kind of nice to have a _stag_ party for _James_, actually. Very nice." Peter hiccoughed, although Remus wished he had choked instead. "What about you, Sirius, do you think we can have a d— OW!"

Remus had reached over to overturn a tankard at the same time Sirius reached under the table to kick at Peter's shin.

"Up you go, S-sirius," said Remus, trying hard not to laugh. There was amethyst colored liquid everywhere, and Amelia had to go to the bathroom to 'clean' her gown. The look that she gave Remus was particularly murderous and Sirius didn't help matters any when he leaned over to fuss at Remus' own robes.

"There you go, Moony. Good as new. Not that they're particularly new, are they? You should have come with me when I'd gone to Madam Malkin's last week."

"Urgh. So you can bully me into wearing those outlandish colors again," said Remus, mildly. They have gone through that scenario before. Sirius would have insisted on paying for Remus' robes and Remus would have insisted on paying for them himself and they'd have bickered again, eliciting chuckling remarks about newlyweds (Maybe even from Madam Malkin herself) that would make Sirius even angrier and Remus more embarrassed.

"Olive is _not_ an outlandish color and it looks good on you."

"If you fellows are done flirting," said Lily, surprisingly without a trace of sarcasm. "You don't really know what James can do to a cake that size, left alone by himself so long. Really, Remus, I expected more from you."

"Sorry, Lily," said Remus, helping Peter stand up. "Slipped my mind, I daresay. And here I thought I could finally sleep better at nights, knowing James Potter is in good hands."

"You still have two of those berks," said Lily.

"Oh, yes, Sirius is doing his best to keep you up at nights, isn't he?"

"Peter!"

Remus knew that Sirius was considering hexing Peter, James' wedding day or not, but he wasn't sure if the belt in Lily's sense of humor was loose enough to allow her to forgive such a thing, so he touched Sirius briefly at the back of the neck.

"Let's leave him tomorrow to regret that, all right?"

"And deal with a hang over," muttered Sirius, although he relaxed his grip on his wand accordingly.

"Better choose the room farthest from his, then. You know how Peter snores."

*

The morning after James and Lily's wedding found Remus Lupin waking up with cockroaches in his stomach and dwarves hammering in his skull. The alcohol had flowed freely the night before, conversations devolving into shrieking, drunken laughter. And Merlin knew when they'd find the time for another get-together like that one, so that people allowed themselves to excess they normally wouldn't think about without blushing.

Find the time, or if they'd be alive still to celebrate anything, Remus amended in his head. And while Remus himself didn't share that hedonistic nihilism, he hadn't been able to say no to the brimming tankards Sirius had kept plying him with. He'd never been good at saying no to people. Much less to Sirius, who knew just the kind of expression to put on his face to get Remus agreeing to any idea that's crossed his pretty head.

And speaking of Sirius' head, Remus realized that the strands tickling his nose was in fact someone's hair and that Sirius' face was lying inches away from his own, still tranquil with sleep.

Remus sat up abruptly, regretting it when his stomach started turning cartwheels. But the movement was impeded anyway since Sirius had both arms around his waist, grip tightening slightly when Remus tried to get up and Sirius began to awaken himself.

"Remus?"

"Don't talk so loud," said Remus, in a harsh whisper.

Sirius laughed, a low rumble in his chest that Remus felt quite keenly since he was lying half on top of his best friend. Sirius shifted his position a bit so that Remus can sit up, kneeling between Sirius' legs and trying to ignore the hardness he'd just felt there. Felt on both of them, actually.

"Good morning, Moony," whispered Sirius, obligingly.

"Where are we?" Remus knew he had to get off the bed and back to where things made sense, but decided to put it off until the world stops rocking about in alarming angles.

"Spare room?" Sirius guessed. "There's that horrible plaid wallpaper James likes so much."

Remus giggled. The conversation sounded normal, at least, lulling him to a state nearing that of ease. Albeit one where you still had roaches in your stomach and dwarves in your head.

"I hope I did nothing particularly disgraceful," he muttered.

"You? You'd sooner disgrace yourself than Snape confess his undying love for James."

"Thanks for that image so early in the morning." Remus yawned, raising his left hand to cover his mouth. He did a double take, feeling bile rising in his throat. "Why am I wearing your ring?"

"Huh?" Sirius sat up as well, scratching the back of his head lazily. He'd drunk as much, if not more, than Remus yester night, but if he was hung over, he hid it pretty well. "What ring?"

"The one you had especially made, with the phoenix head, remember?" Remus waved his hand in front of Sirius' face. "And at a very important finger, too."

"Now you're the one talking loud," said Sirius, making a face. He glanced at his ring briefly, not really interested. "Left hand, ring finger. So what?"

"Are you still sleeping, Sirius Black? What bloody idea did you force on me last night?"

"Hey, you're the one wearing the ring." Sirius smiled. "And sitting there so suggestively, I might add."

Remus growled at his best friend before standing up. He thought the resulting head rush would make him pass out, but that would have been too easy. "Great. First I was your boyfriend. Now this!"

"Natural progression, don't you think?"

"Ugh. What if we go down there and someone tells us that we'd been married by Mad-Eye Moody?"

"Just smile and admit you've hooked quite a catch," said Sirius, with a shrug. He stood up as well, the deliberate movement telling Remus that Sirius wasn't just hung over, he was still a bit drunk as well. "Sounds good, doesn't it? Remus Lupin Black."

_Merlin_, thought Remus, gritting his teeth. _Merlin._

"Sorry to impose on you so early in this new stage in our relationship, mate," Sirius began. "But I feel really—"

"Don't say it!" said Remus, in a bit of panic.

"Horny," Sirius finished. "So—"

"So, take dependable Mr. Right Hand to the bathroom and leave me in peace." Remus started to look around the room for his trousers, thankful that his shirt was long enough to reach to his knees. As for Sirius, Remus had seen him naked before. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Nothing worth a second glance. Remus wasn't even looking.

"You've never had a problem with it before," Sirius pointed out, hands seeking out Remus' waist again to pull the latter close against his body. He moved slightly, his cock snagging the ends of Remus' shirt as Sirius bent to kiss the back of Remus' neck.

"That's different," said Remus, inwardly cursing the rashness of his youth and boarding school traditions.

"Hm."

"Sirius, you're going to stain my best shirt." Remus' voice sounded heavy, bordering on a groan, actually. And he hated it.

"Let's save it then, shall we?" Sirius suggested, hands leaving Remus' waist to start unbuttoning said article of clothing. Remus made a growling sound before stepping away from Sirius.

"I told you, no."

"Remus, it hurts like nothing I can tell you," said Sirius, putting on the pleading face. "Come on, before the other guests start waking up."

Remus sighed. There was really nothing to lose. Besides, he was feeling pretty much in pain himself. "All right. Come here."

"Shame to let a perfectly nice bed to waste."

"Lily'd kill us."

Remus' hand trailed down his friend's body, tracing the arrow of fine, dark hairs down from the stomach and stopping at Sirius' balls, cupping them in his hand. Sirius let out a shaky breath, although he didn't move, letting Remus do what he wanted to. Sirius loved being fussed over, until he couldn't take it anymore and his natural instinct to take lead makes him pin Remus rather violently down.

For now, Remus traced the underside of Sirius' cock, the pulsing warmth of it pulling him in, making him want to enfold it in his hands, squeeze Sirius' pleasure from him. But Remus forbore, hands shaking a bit and trying to focus even with Sirius' warm breath tickling his ear and driving him almost daft.

"Moony," Sirius sighed. He'd begun to move, finding Remus' own cock under the shirt. Someone groaned, although Remus wasn't sure who it was, his mind already pushed to the limit with trying to keep his knees from buckling and the sensation overload of exchanging wanks with Sirius Black.

"Can I put it in?"

"No," said Remus, automatically, although he barely understood what exactly Sirius had said.

"Please, Remus," said Sirius, hands stopping. Remus groaned at him, hips moving to prompt Sirius back to what he'd been doing. There was a trace of a smile in Sirius' voice, catch in the throat that made Remus' hair stand on end to hear it. And then Sirius was rubbing his cock against Remus', even with Remus' hand between them and both of them had to bite back a sharp cry as they felt the pliable hardness against their own.

Sirius' hands strayed to Remus' backside, parting the cheeks of Remus' ass and giving them a brief squeeze before letting one hand travel down, brief acquaintance with the perineum before going back to Remus' ass hole.

"Sirius!" said Remus, when he felt Sirius' finger enter him to the first knuckle. "Wait!"

"No?" said Sirius.

"Wait."

"I won't hurt you." Sirius left off his probing a while, kissing Remus instead, nudging the soft lips open with his tongue and tasting alcohol with the honey and chocolate taste that was Remus.

Remus sighed, leaning towards Sirius with a muffled oath. "I know."

*

Both of them had forgotten about the ring business, although Remus couldn't very well say how he could forget such a thing.

Lured down to the kitchen by the smell of pancakes and sausages, they went down together, smiling like a couple of berks at James and Lily who were acting like the most married couple since anybody's parents.

James looked up from his newspaper as soon as Sirius and Remus entered the kitchen, smiling like a berk himself while taking sips of coffee.

"'Morning."

"Oy, James, you look like your own father, you know? Take care you don't grow a paunch any time soon."

"So, Remus," said Lily, placing a tray of sausages onto the table and winking at him. "Would we be hearing the announcement soon? You really should hurry up, you know, what with all the...other arrangements we promised to do for Dumbledore."

"Announcement?" said Remus, choking on his tea.

James snorted, waving the back of his left hand in front of everyone, wedding ring blinking at Remus from James' tanned finger. "Were you really that pissed last night, Moony?"

Remus tried not to look at his own hand and failed. "This is a joke, right?"

"All jokes are half meant, old boy."

Sirius laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

The Time for Action

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

I'm now starting to realize that this might not be as humorous as I thought it would be. Ugh. On another note, we all know how this is going to end up, anyway.

Chapter Two

"You'd be fine?"

"I feel like throwing up and I might not be able to sit down properly for a week, but I'm fine. Now get out there before people start paying attention." Remus' hand reached out for the doorknob, and in the half light, the silver phoenix head glittered at him, beak looking sharp enough to put one's eye out in case Remus was so inclined. "Sirius, your ring—"

"Keep it." Sirius' voice was impatient. He had one foot on the balustrade directly in front of the door to Remus' flat, although he made no move as to alight from his motor bike or go away as Remus had asked.

"But—"

"Wear it on a different finger if you want, it doesn't matter, all right?" Sirius sighed, kicking at the crumbling cement of the railing. "God, Moony, can't you move somewhere less naff?"

"Well, we don't all have kind, loving uncles leaving us houses when we've reached our majority, do we?" Remus pointed out.

"I did say you can share the house with me if you wanted to," Sirius said. He sounded put out, almost pouty, except the expression on his face didn't change at all from the irritated look he'd been giving Remus since breakfast. "Merlin, James stayed there before he and Lily got their own place, no bother at all. It's big enough we could stay out of each others' beds if we wanted to..."

His voice trailed off. Remus smiled.

"I know, Padfoot." Remus inserted his key into the lock. "Although after this morning, I find that it might be harder than you think."

Sirius laughed softly, accepting Remus' chiding remark with a shrug.

"It's an excuse, you know, that ring."

Remus turned back around. He didn't really want to look at Sirius right then. He had found out early in his life that saying no to Sirius worked better if he wasn't looking into those gray eyes, and it worked well enough until Sirius had caught on. And so the game started when Sirius would try to take Remus unawares, spouting off a whole lot of cryptic sentences in a monotone so that Remus had no choice at all but to look and see what Sirius was up to.

"Excuse?" Remus repeated.

"To keep in touch," said Sirius. "To see you."

"You don't need an excuse for that," said Remus, lightly. "And I'm sure you'd much rather not, considering the state of my flat. Naff is the word, right?"

Sirius sighed loudly, the movement of his shoulders visible even under the oversized leather jacket he liked wearing. Then he was climbing onto the railing, kicking down more dust as the banisters threatened to crumble down completely and Remus had to stop breathing for several seconds while he contemplated the four-floor drop waiting for Sirius in case the whole thing did give in.

"Sirius, we're at the highest floor of this bloody building!" Remus said.

"Worried?"

"Could you at least make your bike less conspicuous?"

Sirius repeated his shrug, stepping down the hallway in one fluid motion before turning back to his motorcycle and taking out his wand from his jacket pocket. "Anything for you, love."

"I take it you'll be staying for tea," said Remus, drily.

"If you have crumpets, yes." Sirius tapped his wand against the side of the bike. Remus watched idly as the motorcycle started to vanish; the top fading first like someone was erasing the thing from the scene. He had to wonder briefly how that would look like to a Muggle happening to glance their way, but he wasn't interested enough to tell Sirius off for bringing him back home on the bike in the first place.

"Loved only for my skill at cooking, I see." Remus opened the door, wincing a bit at the protesting sound the hinges made when he did so.

"Who wouldn't?" Sirius said, wisely choosing not to comment on the shrieking door. "You're so cute when you try to do housewifely chores, Moony. It reminds me that you're not as perfect as I figured."

"Never said I was. Mind the ghost on the rug."

Sirius took a step back, looking down sharply before glaring back at Remus. "Where? Hell, Moony, you might warn a bloke before he steps on dead, cold, _unwelcome-y_ things."

Remus laughed. He was the only person who knew how much Sirius hated ghosts. Not that he was scared of them, as Sirius like reminding Remus. But _hated_, because the first time he'd seen a ghost closely was the time he had walked through the Bloody Baron in the middle of the night during their first year.

"I was just kidding. Come on in."

"Hm. Is that the scent of a million fry-ups that I smell?"

"Bugger off," said Remus, mildly. Sirius had come over once before, along with the rest of the Marauders to help Remus move his things (which weren't much to begin with) and for a bit of house warming. The flat had smelled pretty much the same back then, even worse, probably. He didn't pride himself for his housekeeping skills, as Sirius had already pointed out, but he wasn't a downright slob either.

"Maybe later," said Sirius, absently. He had sunk onto the great chair that Remus had begged off from his mother. "James could have spared us cleaning up after the guests, couldn't he? I was about ready to fall down by the time Lily got the tables cleared away."

"You could've conserved your energy this morning, couldn't you?" said Remus, taking off his coat and hanging it on a pole by the door. "Give your jacket here, Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged said article of clothing off, holding it out to Remus with one hand and refusing to budge from his seat so that Remus had to use a Summoning charm to fetch the jacket and hang it beside his own coat.

"Anything else you want in particular, aside from crumpets, of course?"

"Hair of the dog," Sirius muttered, before realizing what he had just said. "Sorry, Moony."

Remus shrugged it off. "About that, Sirius, you know, next week—"

"I'll take care of it," said Sirius, promptly. He had tied his hair back in a ponytail earlier, saying it was a bother when it whipped across his face while he was riding his bike. Remus knew this for the lie that it was. Sirius didn't really mind, except he was wary of his hair getting to _Remus_' face with him riding pillion on the bleeding bike. Sirius had loosed his hair while talking, running one hand across the long strands with a soft sigh. He looked very much like a man satisfied with the world; one who wouldn't be moving away from where he was in a long while.

In a way, Remus wished Sirius wouldn't, but that idea was just too selfish to even consider seriously.

"I don't really want to be a bother," Remus began.

"You're not. We've gone through this before, haven't we, Remus?" Sirius' hand stopped in mid-stroke, scratching the back of his own head instead. "You need help with tea?"

"Don't bother, Mr. Padfoot, you can stay where you are." Remus smiled, a crooked little thing that bared a bit of his front teeth.

"Come here, Moony," said Sirius, suddenly. His eyes looked dark for a moment, and Remus couldn't tell if it was from the same sadistic humor that sometimes got hold of Sirius or something else.

"What about tea?"

Sirius grinned. "Can wait. _Accio_ Moony."

"Sirius!" Only the thought of tenants next door kept Remus from screaming in surprise, so he bit his lip instead, feeling his feet lift off the floor and the slight swishing motion that brought him towards the great chair.

Sirius had his arms open wide, arranging Remus onto his lap with a grin that would have looked idiotic on anyone else.

"Cosy, isn't it?" he said, nuzzling the back of Remus' neck. "You'll be needing some Wolfsbane Potion, then?"

Remus had to spend several seconds trying to figure out how to breathe again, and then how to work his voice. "I'm sorry."

"Hm," said Sirius, biting at Remus' neck. "Why is it that you can't get into that thick head of yours that it's no bother at all? No matter how many times I tell you?"

"You'll be busy with work, and the Order—"

"Can do well enough even without us, who'd just left school and are pretty much junior members anyway," Sirius pointed out. "It's just for a couple of days anyway."

"Nice to know where your priorities lie," said Remus, although he was wearing a grin as idiotic as Sirius', and he didn't even have the pretty face to offset it all. "Don't, that tickles."

"And you? What's on top of Mr. Moony's list?"

Remus looked down at his hand, the finger wearing Sirius' ring. He took a shuddering breath, knowing what he should say, but biting down on the word. _You, you_, his mind screamed, except that he didn't really want to tie Sirius down with him. Not the brilliant scion of the Black family (Although Sirius had been disowned years ago, there was no denying his heritage. Not that he was horrible like his family, but _still._) with a werewolf who wouldn't even have been accepted into Hogwarts if not for Dumbledore. Life wasn't a Muggle fairy tale. Remus didn't want to do that to Sirius. He wasn't even going to think of it.

"Moony?" Sirius' voice was soft, almost uncertain. It was enough to undo Remus, except that he was prepared against it.

"For now, I want a nap," said Remus, lightly. "You sure about tea?"

"Very sure." Sirius' arms tightened around Remus, and the former shifted his position so that they were sitting more comfortably together, Remus resting his head on Sirius' shoulder.

One word, Remus thought. One word can stop this, send Sirius away to his own life, his own promising future where friends (or whatever it was Sirius and Remus were) with monthly problems had no place at all. You deserve much more than this, Remus wanted to say, but he couldn't. And he hated himself for it, and how he clung to Sirius like any lovestruck girl.

"Don't hate me," he said, sleepily, wondering if Sirius had fallen asleep yet. His breathing was slow and rhythmic.

"Why, Lupin, whatever gave you that idea?" said Sirius.

*

Dusk, several hours before the moon rises, and Remus was pulling the curtains back to look outside for the umpteenth time.

"Stop fidgeting, Remus. It's making me jumpy." Sirius didn't even look up from his magazine. He'd picked up a few from a Muggle book store with Remus a few days ago, walking around London before taking care of some surveillance business for the Order. Sirius was keen on exploring a bit of Soho, a place about which he'd been reading a lot of interesting information from magazines and books, but Remus wouldn't hear of it. "Look at that. Witches should dress like this once in a while, you know?"

"Bikinis," said Remus, vaguely. "And women only wear them to the beach, as you know already, Padfoot."

Sirius made a huffing sound. "We never go to the beach. It's been decades since I've gone anywhere near the sea. We should go sometime."

"You're twenty, Sirius. You can't have spent decades waiting for beach escapades."

"Felt like it. Why couldn't James and Lily have spent their honeymoon on a beach? Somewhere south and warm."

"Maybe because Death Eaters are everywhere and people have more things to worry about than getting a tan," said Remus. His tone was even, almost absent-minded, and he was still looking at the sky through the windows.

Sirius sighed. Their conversation was getting nowhere, and Remus was acting the proper prefect again. Not that Remus was much of a wet blanket. Barring James and Sirius himself, Remus was easily the most interesting person Sirius had ever met (sometimes, of course, Remus was even more interesting than James, but this wasn't quite the time or place to contemplate such things). Except that he did have the tendency to think too much, either about the future or the present state of things in general, and that made him worry. Sirius liked to lick away the creases from between Remus' eyebrows, the shadows from under his eyes.

He liked it when Remus smiled. He'd done a lot of daft things back at school just to see Remus smile. He'd done a lot of things to make Remus frown, too, but that was just friendly annoyance, or so Sirius liked to think.

"Sirius," said Remus, uncertainly.

"I'm here, love."

"I think you should change now."

"Hm," said Sirius, placing his magazine onto the escritoire and stretching a bit. "James sends his regrets for not being able to keep you company tonight, by the way. As do Peter, who said he was busy but did not share the particulars."

"Probably a secret romance," said Remus, drily. "He's been acting more like a real Wormtail lately, hasn't he? And James should really think about Lily more. I mean, he's married now. It's not like we have to keep on—" His voice trailed off. "I'm sorry, Sirius."

"If you say that one more time, Moony, I'm going to strangle you. And I know I'd regret it the moment I see James cuddling with Lily, and I'd realize that I don't have my Moony to keep me company anymore."

"Poor Padfoot," said Remus, softly. He walked back towards the couch where Sirius was sitting, holding the latter close from behind. Sirius shivered pleasantly when he felt Remus' lips brush against the tip of his ear, Remus' breath tickling the sensitive flesh where the curve of Sirius' jaw sloped down to his neck. Remus rarely, if ever, initiated contact. It was all about the proper and controlled façade he kept up. When he did touch Sirius, on the other hand, he did so with a trace of desperation laced with possessiveness.

It was another thing Sirius liked about Remus. How the other boy could make him feel special, wanted even, and just unquestionably _right_. Of course, James did that unconsciously for people he liked, gathering around his friends a special bubble that excluded everyone else. But with Remus it was different. Tentative and rough at the same time, that was how Remus was. How many nights when Sirius padded across the cold floors of their dorm and into Remus' bed; the shadowy fears Sirius could tell no one else eased by Remus' hands running across his hair and the soft, fierce, assured voice telling him that he was different, that he was the Marauder's Sirius, Moony's Sirius.

"Moony." Sirius could feel Remus' arms stiffen around him. It was probably time.

"Change now," said Remus, echoing Sirius' thoughts.

Sirius did, feeling the rearrangement of his body, the sharpening of his senses as if he was taking a cloak off. It had been disconcerting at first, having to stand on all fours, and then the fact that he can smell things, sense things, better. At that moment, Remus smelled like strawberries (his shampoo), the chocolate he'd eaten after dinner and fear and love and just fuzzy, cold Moony who held onto Padfoot's neck like he was going to drown and the dog was a buoy.

And then Remus was changing himself, a growl escaping his lips before his whole body arched back, spine elongating and head thrown back. The familiar transformation still making Sirius wince a bit, wondering if it felt as painful as it looked, and if his being there really made it better for Remus.

If it didn't, well, too bad for Remus. Because Sirius had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

The werewolf, _Moony_, whimpered slightly, looking uncertainly in the direction of the windows, which were made in the French style, and stretched almost from floor to ceiling. Heavy curtains were drawn across them, just in case. The house Sirius lived in was set back quite a distance from the gates so the chances of anyone peering in and seeing them was pretty slim, but Remus had said that he felt better with all the curtains drawn, and so drawn they were.

Padfoot went closer, biting down at the werewolf's neck gently, pulling him back. The werewolf nudged at Padfoot with his snout, the movement a tad too strong to be playful, and then the werewolf was settling down the floors, forelegs tangled with Padfoot's. One of them growled. Padfoot rested his head onto the werewolf's back, taking in short breaths the strawberry scent of the werewolf's fur and he couldn't resist licking a bit before settling down. Moony tasted electric, somehow, familiar and unique. It calmed Padfoot, made him forget the look in Remus' eyes when he was changing.

The fire Remus had built earlier flickered in the hearth, keeping them both warm until dawn.

*

"All right, Remus?"

Remus nodded groggily, stretching his arms as he sat up. He sniffed at the air. Sometimes the wolf left residues on Remus mornings afterwards, making him move and even look differently. Feral. Driving Sirius more daft than usual. "Those eggs?"

"And toast. Dressing gown over the couch."

"Thanks," said Remus. "Robes all tattered again, I see."

"Can't be helped," said Sirius, placing a plate of scrambled eggs on the table. "I'm buying you a new set, whether you like it or not, and unless you want to wear turquoise or some such outlandish color, you better come with me."

"You don't have to," muttered Remus. He was standing up and putting on the dressing gown carelessly, not bothering with the belt. Back in their years at Hogwarts, Remus had never felt comfortable walking around naked like the others, prim and proper Moony who always made sure to look presentable and nice. It had to do with being what he was, probably, and how Remus had never felt too comfortable in his own body. Except by this time Sirius had seen Remus naked too many times for any kind of awkwardness between them.

Prim Moony walking around now in Sirius' house with his gown open down the front and Sirius could feel himself strain against his trousers a bit, remembering Remus' joke about not being able to keep out of each other's beds and wondering how much of that Remus actually meant.

"I can fix them up well enough," Remus went on, and it took Sirius several seconds to figure out what the other boy was talking about.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. It's my money, I can do with it what I want."

"We're both unemployed, Sirius."

"We'll get by." Sirius sighed. "That's why I'm telling you to move in here, save you some rent money and all. We could split expenses if that's what's bugging you. You can wash my back."

Remus laughed, reaching from behind Sirius for a piece of toast. Sirius' breath caught in throat when he felt the other boy's body press against his back, warm even through the flannel of the dressing gown and Sirius' own clothes. There was no mistaking the hardness he could feel down there, Remus rubbing a bit against his backside.

"Moony."

"Seems a shame to let the food get cold," Remus observed, laughing softly as Sirius turned around to grab him by the shoulders.

"Do you care?" Sirius asked, pushing Remus down onto the table, which was already occupied with two mugs of coffee and the platters of eggs and toast. He could hear his stomach growl in protest, but this was the sort of hunger he can ignore for longer. Not with Remus deliciously laid down the table under him, with the open gown trailing down in waves of red checks and his cinnamon nipples shivering erect under the powerful combination of Sirius' gaze and the cold morning air.

"Hmm," said Remus, as Sirius bent down to kiss the delicate line of his collarbone. "Sirius."

Remus opened his legs wide, wrapping them around Sirius' waist and using his feet to push Sirius closer. Sirius choked back on an oath, almost entranced as he watched Remus finish off his toast.

"If you do more of that, you'll have to send me to St. Mungo's soon," said Sirius, as Remus started licking at his fingers. Sirius moved his hips so that he could feel Remus' cock against his own, even through the fabric of his jeans, smiling a bit when he heard Remus moan.

"Take off," said Remus, almost incoherently. "I want to feel you against me."

This was much harder than Sirius would have thought possible. His fingers kept sliding nervously across the zipper of his fly, fumbling with the annoying button on top, so that Remus was groaning impatiently, rocking back and forth against him and making it harder to concentrate on anything at all.

"You're pushy today," said Sirius.

"Shut up."

And then Sirius could feel his clothes being torn away from his body as if with invisible hands, and he had to laugh a bit against one side of Remus' face, loving the way the boy shuddered when Sirius' tongue darted out to trace the shell of Remus' ear.

"Wandless and wordless magic. I'm impressed, Mr. Moony."

"Don't tease," said Remus.

"Who's teasing?" Sirius kicked his trousers off. "Moony, I—too tight—"

Remus spit on his hands, reaching between them to run his slick hands up and down Sirius' cock. There was already the tell-tale pearlescent drop on the tip of Sirius' penis, and Remus rubbed his thumb against it a bit before going back to what he'd been doing.

Sirius began to touch Remus as well, pushing Remus' hands away and pressing their cocks together, wanking them both with one hand while the other held Remus' wrists above his head. Remus had begun squirming, slight tinkle of the coffee mugs as the table shook with their movements. He had closed his eyes, lashes fluttering against flushed cheeks, and that edible frown.

"Inside."

Coated with Remus' pre-come as well as his own, Sirius pressed himself inside Remus' arsehole, groaning against the rough opening before burying himself to the balls. Remus' arched back, screaming inarticulately, toes digging into the cheeks of Sirius' own arse and almost overturning the coffee mugs.

"You're so warm," said Sirius, hips pistoning. The sound of the table legs scraping against the polished wooden floors (something Sirius normally found irritating) was drowned out by the rushing in his ears and Remus' soft moans. "Baby, come on."

Some of the coffee had spilled from the mugs, staining Remus' dressing gown and dripping down the floors. Quite a mess the kitchen would be after all this. Not that Sirius was complaining.

"Oh, please, Sirius, _Sirius._" Sibilant sounds coming from Remus lips, and the thin trail of saliva trickling down the line of his jaw that Sirius just had to lick away.

And then he was kissing Remus, sucking at the latter's lower lip and licking off the crumbs there before kissing him properly. Warm mouth and wet tongues fighting and then Remus was shuddering under him, warm and sticky on Sirius' hand and his own belly and it took Sirius only a few more thrusts to come himself.

"You're so beautiful," he said, lying down on top of Remus with a soft sigh.

"Am not," said Remus, with a laughing rush of breath. "Now you're really teasing."

"You are," said Sirius, running the tips of his fingers down the angular curves of Remus' body, stopping near his navel when Remus began squirming again. "You're lovely."

Remus opened his mouth to say something more, but a popping sound came from the hearth at that moment, and both of them turned around to see the back of James Potter's head in the middle of the flames.

"Hullo. Everyone decent right now?" said James, cheerfully.

"Hold on," said Sirius, when it seemed like Remus was going to choke with held-back laughter. "Wait a moment, will you."

James, good man that he was, did not comment on this, engaging on small talk with Remus (unhelpful little bastard) while Sirius hurried to put things right again.

After several _Accios _and _Evanescos_ later (Try as he might, he couldn't find out where the button from his trousers ended up, but Sirius figured his jumper was long enough to hide what was lacking.), Sirius produced a third mug and pulled up another chair.

"All right then, you can turn around now, mate."

James stepped out of the fire, brushing ashes from his robes absently.

"Coffee?" said Remus, who was eating his third piece of toast.

"Thanks," said James.

"What brings you here so early in the morning, Potter?" said Sirius. "Fight with Lily already?"

James shrugged. "Heard from Dumbledore around dawn. Dark Mark's been sighted again."

"Who…?" said Remus, frowning.

"Prewetts. Fabian, I think. Order calls for meeting this afternoon. Exact time and place later." James drank down his coffee. Although Sirius knew it must have been scalding hot, his best friend didn't even so much as wince.

"Fabian?" said Sirius. "He was one of ours, wasn't he?"

James nodded. "I have a bad feeling about this, actually. First Fenwick, now him. It's like they know whom to attack, you know?"

Sirius half-shrugged, turning to look at Remus. Remus was looking down at his mug, biting at his lip (which was swollen) with a worried frown. When he felt Sirius' gaze on him, he looked up and gave Sirius a weak smile.

"Well, see you later, all right? I have to alert the rest of them." James stood up, replacing his empty mug on top of the table.

"I'll come with you," said Sirius.

"Wait," said Remus, reaching out. He caught himself before he could touch Sirius' arm, letting his hand fall down with a thump against the table.

"Stay here Moony. You need to rest." Sirius smiled, tangling his fingers with Remus' and lifting the boy's hand again to kiss his knuckles. From his peripheral vision, Sirius saw James raise his eyebrows, but James was smiling anyway, like a proud parent.

"Be careful," said Remus.

"Of course."


End file.
